5 Ingredient Pasta

Ayesha Curry’s Recipe for Stephen’s Five-Ingredient Pasta

Ayesha Curry’s NBA champion husband Stephen Curry loves this dish.

Ayesha Curry, 29, is the author of The Seasoned Life: Food, Family, Faith, and the Joy of Eating Well, star of Food Network’s Ayesha’s Home Kitchen and ABC’s The Great American Baking Show, one of the faces of CoverGirl cosmetics and creator of a cookware line available at Target. Oh yeah, and she’s pregnant with her third child with husband and Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry. We chopped it up with Ayesha to talk about her passions, both personal and professional.

Is cooking an art or science? It’s an art to me. You can be so creative and imaginative with cooking.

Were you a fan of a particular celebrity chef before you became one? Rachel Ray has been a huge influence.

Are your daughters, Riley (5) and Ryan (2), picky eaters? I’m lucky to have two little girls that are willing to try almost everything. When it comes to snacks, they usually request fresh fruit and veggies over sugary snacks. Riley has even tried her first black truffle!

Talk about your charity work with Cheeky Kids and No Kid Hungry… It gives me a chance to combine my passions for parenting, cooking, and ending childhood hunger with No Kid Hungry (nokidhungry.org). For every Cheeky (cheekyhome.com/kids) item purchased, Cheeky donates one meal! A dream come true to help children in need.

What is Steph’s favorite meal? He loves for me to make him chicken parmesan any day of the week.

Stephen’s Five-Ingredient Pasta

While Steph might love eating Ayesha’s chicken parm, the two-time NBA MVP and three-time champion isn’t as handy in the kitchen as he is on the court. When “Chef Curry” is cooking, he makes different pasta dish. “He’s a pro,” Ayesha says. “It’s become his signature. Any time he’s in charge of dinner, it’s pretty much guaranteed that this is what we’ll be eating.”

Starting Five

• 12 oz. egg noodles

• 8 oz. chopped pancetta (about 1 ½ cups)

• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced

• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan

• Generous handful of fresh basil leaves, larger leaves torn

3-point Shot

• Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook according to package directions

• Meanwhile, heat large skillet over medium heat. Cook pancetta until crisp, about five minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to a bowl and pour off about half of the fat. (About ¼ cup fat left in pan.) Add peppers and cook, tossing occasionally, until they are softened, about five minutes.

• Drain noodles, saving ½ cup of pasta water, and return the noodles to large pot. Stir in crispy pancetta and peppers. Add about ¼ cup of reserved pasta water and stir in cheese, adding more pasta water if pasta looks dry. Stir in basil right before serving.